What on Earth is Going on? is a podcast for the curious, where small talk is banned and tangents are prized. Strap yourself in for genuine dialogues with people who think deeply and are ready to tackle the big questions, such as playwright Nicolas Billon, economist Miles Corak and chemist Cathleen Crudden.

Water is foundational to human life. Many of us live in places
where it is clean, cheap and flows freely from the tap, and where
it can be taken for granted. But a billion people go without
adequate access to clean drinking water, and due to the enormous
increase in the demand for water from agriculture and industry, by
2040 most countries will not be able to meet their basic water
needs. And water is a finite resource that exists in an ever-moving
ecosystem. What we pour down the sink or flush down the toilet must
come back. Are we paying enough attention?

Enhancing the value and sustainability of our natural and
renewable resources has important societal, economic and
environmental impacts. The key to ensuring a sustainable future
requires the integration of a resource management approach for the
valorization of residual streams and environmentally sound
processes in the production of energy, fuels and bioproducts from
natural and renewable materials. Scientific and technical progress
in this field is increasingly dependent on the development and
application of more environmentally sustainable processes;
recovery, reuse and valorization of waste streams; and the
discovery of innovative routes in the extraction and synthesis of
bio-based products. The integration of lower environmental impact
technologies and green chemistry is paramount to establishing a
future supply of green and sustainable bio-based energy, fuel
materials and chemical products, as well as a better management of
liquid and solid waste streams. The challenge is clear – develop
technologies that will be both efficient and effective over a long
lifetime that will be compatible with the natural environment.

Dr. Pascale Champagne’s research focuses on the development of
alternate water and waste management strategies and environmentally
sustainable approaches with a focus on integrated bioresource
management. Her research activities are interdisciplinary and
transdisciplinary and have commonality with the fields of
environmental and chemical engineering, biology and green
chemistry; hence, she collaborates and has evolved synergistic
relationships with a number of researchers in these fields to
develop new integrated bioresource management practices, to
introduce alternate aqueous and solid waste management approaches,
and to create unique opportunities for the bioenergy and
bioproducts sectors.

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About the Podcast

Your weekly podcast for a world in flux.
Globalization and climate change. The rise of social media and the decline and fall of Blockbuster Video. AI and VR. Donald Trump and Flat Earthers. The world is changing so fast that we can't get a grip on how we got here, let alone where we're headed.
Join Ben Charland as he peels back the headlines to ask, what are the events, characters, forces and ideas that shape the human story today? Have things always been this nuts, or are they getting crazier by the day? Who were those barbarians that took down the Blockbuster Empire? Just what on Earth is going on?